The appeal of Argentina's radical libertarian Javier Milei

Chainsaw-wielding Trump admirer and 'tantric sex coach' elected president thanks to beleaguered economy

Argentinian president-elect Javier Miliel
Milei, 53, has vowed to do away with the peso and shut down the central bank amid soaring inflation and poverty
(Image credit: Tomas Cuesta / Getty Images)

A self-avowed "tantric sex coach" and chainsaw-wielding far-right libertarian might seem an unlikely attraction for a country grappling with serious financial woes.

But Javier Milei, a former economics professor and daytime TV star, has been elected president of Argentina, "catapulting South America's second-largest economy into an unpredictable and potentially turbulent future", said The Guardian. The "volatile" Milei, 53, secured 56% of the vote, with 44% going to his opponent Sergio Massa, the economy minister in Argentina's centre-left Peronist government. It was a result that shocked the political establishment. 

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Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.